Manitoba Hydro Place, Winnipeg MB / KPMB Architects

situation:

Manitoba Hydro Place is an office building development with design requirements to become the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certified green building in Canada. Aercoustics was retained for acoustic consulting services.

assessment:

Aercoustics assessed the performance of the open and private office spaces and compared with industry best practices and standards. Some “green” components of the building design presented challenges for the acoustic design goals. The low-velocity under-floor supply air system resulted in a background sound level in the open office space that actually too quiet to mask sound. This passive airflow design also created breaches in acoustically rated partitions for private offices and meeting rooms. Heat radiating concrete slabs were also hard reflective surfaces in the open office, which affected speech privacy.

solution:

Aercoustics recommended a sound masking system to boost the background sound level in the open office space to optimal levels. We also recommended solutions for treating the acoustically rated walls, including the use of clear transoms to block sound leakage while still transmitting light. Aercoustics also built a model of a typical open office bay using CATT software to test the impact that various combinations of room finishes and furnishing would have on speech privacy in the space.